For many years it has been conventional practice in the training and racing of a trotting or pacing horse to make use of a checkrein which, when in use, maintains the horse's head erect. Following completion of a race or training session the horse commonly is excited and nervous and often tosses his head with such force that he is apt to be injured if a checkrein remains in its operative condition. It is desirable, therefore, to release the checkrein as promptly as possible following completion of a race or a training exercise.
A checkrein of the kind presently in use is adapted to be secured to an upstanding and rearwardly inclined hook-like post mounted on a portion of the harness in the vicinity of the horse's withers. Although the driver of the horse is seated on a sulky quite close to the rear of the horse, it is not possible for the driver to remain in his seat and reach the anchor post to release the checkrein. With such a checkrein it is necessary for some other person to release the checkrein, or the driver must dismount the sulky and do it himself. In either case, considerable time may elapse between the completion of a race or training exercise and the release of the checkrein. In those instances in which the driver must dismount his sulky, he is exposed to considerable risk of being injured, particularly if the horse is spirited and excited.
The disadvantages referred to above may be overcome by the use of a checkrein mechanism which maintains the checkrein in its operative condition for the required period of time and which may be released by the horse's driver without necessitating his leaving his seat. Driver actuated checkrein release mechanisms have been proposed heretofore, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 709,778 and 897,973, but known releasable latch mechanisms have had disadvantages associated with them. For instance, known devices rely for their operation primarily upon springs which can be overcome or rendered inoperative by an especially determined horse. Further, known constructions may be incapable of releasing a checkrein should they be actuated when the horse imposes tension on the checkrein by attempting to lower its head.
A principal object of the invention is to provide a releasable latch mechanism operable to secure a checkrein in its operative condition, which may be operated from a remote position by the horse's driver, and which overcomes the problems associated with mechanisms having a similar purpose .